1985–86 League Cup (rugby league)


This was the fifteenth season of the competition. The League Cup was again known as the John Player Special Trophy this season for sponsorship reasons.
Wigan won the final, beating Hull Kingston Rovers by the score of 11-8. The match was played at Elland Road, Leeds. The attendance was 17,573 and receipts were £66714.

Background

This season saw several changes in the entrants :-

1 Bridgend Blue Dragons and Southend Invicta both folded

2 and the invitation to two junior clubs continued

This involved a decrease in entrants to thirty-six, in turn resulting in a 4 match, 8 club preliminary round to reduce the number of clubs taking part in the first round proper to thirty-two

There were no drawn matches throughout the tournament

Competition and Results

Preliminary Round

Involved 4 matches and 8 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sun 10 Nov 1985Carlisle6-24Rochdale HornetsBrunton Park752
2Sun 10 Nov 1985Featherstone Rovers10-14WarringtonPost Office Road1803
3Sun 10 Nov 1985Keighley24-6Jubilee Hotel Lawkholme Lane10071
4Sun 10 Nov 1985West Hull10-24CastlefordBoulevard25002

Round 1 - First Round

Involved 16 matches and 32 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 23 Nov 1985Halifax2-11Hull Kingston RoversThrum Hall4147
2Sun 24 Nov 1985Barrow5-2LeedsCraven Park4886
3Sun 24 Nov 1985Batley2-70LeighMount Pleasant15433
4Sun 24 Nov 1985Blackpool Borough22-24Wakefield TrinityBorough Park683
5Sun 24 Nov 1985Bramley8-46OldhamMcLaren Field2738
6Sun 24 Nov 1985Doncaster22-20Runcorn HighfieldBentley Road Stadium/Tattersfield375
7Sun 24 Nov 1985Fulham13-20WarringtonChiswick Poly Sports Grd1493
8Sun 24 Nov 1985Hunslet20-12Workington TownElland Road726
9Sun 24 Nov 1985Keighley20-10Huddersfield BarracudasLawkholme Lane12644
10Sun 24 Nov 1985St. Helens42-6DewsburyKnowsley Road5364
11Sun 24 Nov 1985Salford18-12Rochdale HornetsThe Willows2844
12Sun 24 Nov 1985Sheffield Eagles16-24Bradford NorthernOwlerton Stadium1342
13Sun 24 Nov 1985Whitehaven7-12WidnesRecreation Ground3097
14Sun 24 Nov 1985Wigan26-0Mansfield MarksmanCentral Park100405
15Sun 24 Nov 1985York12-10CastlefordClarence Street3765
16Sun 27 Nov 1985Hull F.C.44-0SwintonBoulevard3797

Round 2 - Second Round

Involved 8 matches and 16 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
1Sat 30 Nov 1985Widnes30-6Bradford NorthernNaughton Park2222
2Sun 1 Dec 1985Hull F.C.30-10SalfordBoulevard5659
3Sun 1 Dec 1985Hull Kingston Rovers8-7OldhamCraven Park 7069
4Sun 1 Dec 1985Leigh48-6HunsletHilton Park3267
5Sun 1 Dec 1985St. Helens36-20DoncasterKnowsley Road4092
6Sun 1 Dec 1985Wakefield Trinity21-30WiganBelle Vue7360
7Sun 1 Dec 1985Warrington34-14BarrowWilderspool3705
8Sun 1 Dec 1985York21-16KeighleyClarence Street2511

Round 3 -Quarter Finals

Involved 4 matches with 8 clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 7 Dec 1985Warrington22-26WiganWilderspool6737
2Sun 8 Dec 1985Hull Kingston Rovers24-16YorkCraven Park 6228
3Sun 8 Dec 1985Widnes31-35LeighNaughton Park6153
4Wed 11 Dec 1985St. Helens57-14HullKnowsley Road7536

Round 4 – Semi-Finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 Clubs
Game NoFixture DateHome TeamScoreAway TeamVenueAttRecNotesRef
-
1Sat 14 Dec 1985Wigan36-8LeighKnowsley Road10509
2Sat 21 Dec 1985Hull Kingston Rovers22-4St. HelensHeadingley3856

Final

Teams and Scorers

Wigan№Hull Kingston Rovers
teams
Steve Hampson1John Lydiat
Ray Mordt2Garry Clark
David Stephenson3Mike Smith
Ellery Hanley4John Dorahy
Henderson Gill5David Laws
Steve Ella6Gordon Smith
Mike Ford7Paul Harkin
Greg Dowling8Peter Johnston
Nicky Kiss9David Watkinson
Shaun Wane10Asuquo "Zook" Ema
Graeme West11Christopher Burton
Andy Goodway12Andy Kelly
Ian Potter13Gavin Miller
Shaun Edwards 14Ian Robinson
Nick Du Toit 15? Not used
Colin Clarke and Alan McInnesCoachRoger Millward
-
11score8
7HT4
Scorers
Tries
Mike Ford TJohn Lydiat
Shaun Wane TDavid Laws
Goals
David Stephenson G
Drop Goals
Greg Dowling DG
RefereeJohn Holdsworth
Man of the matchPaul Harkin - Hull KR -
Competition SponsorJohn Player Special

Scoring - Try = four points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point

Prize Money

As part of the sponsorship deal and funds, the prize money awarded to the competing teams for this season is as follows :-
Finish PositionCash PrizeNo. receiving prizeTotal Cash
Winner?1?
Runner-up?1?
semi-finalist?2?
loser in Rd 3?4?
loser in Rd 2?8?
Loser in Rd 1?16?
Loser in Prelim Round???
Grand Total

Note - the author is unable to trace the award amounts for this season. Can anyone help ?

The road to success

This tree excludes any preliminary round fixtures

General information for those unfamiliar

The council of the Rugby Football League voted to introduce a new competition, to be similar to The Football Association and Scottish Football Association's "League Cup". It was to be a similar knock-out structure to, and to be secondary to, the Challenge Cup. As this was being formulated, sports sponsorship was becoming more prevalent and as a result John Player and Sons, a division of Imperial Tobacco Company, became sponsors, and the competition never became widely known as the "League Cup"

The competition ran from 1971-72 until 1995-96 and was initially intended for the professional clubs plus the two amateur BARLA National Cup finalists. In later seasons the entries were expanded to take in other amateur and French teams. The competition was dropped due to "fixture congestion" when Rugby League became a summer sport
The Rugby League season always ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this competition always took place early in the season, in the Autumn, with the final usually taking place in late January

The competition was variably known, by its sponsorship name, as the Player's No.6 Trophy, the John Player Trophy, the John Player Special Trophy, and the Regal Trophy in 1989.